Skye jumped, dropping the shot glass and splashing liquid all over her pants before letting loose a long list of expletives.
“Fuck, Hayden. I think I just shit myself! You fucking scared me,” she slurred. If I had any questions where the rest of the tequila was, the way Skye was slurring and wobbling was a dead giveaway.
“Sorry,” I apologized, feeling a little guilty. “I bought you some dessert,” I offered, holding up the bowl.
“Oh, thanks,” Skye replied.
“How about I just put it in the fridge for now and you can have it when you’re ready? I’m not sure tequila and chocolate mousse really go together.”
Skye giggled. It was a light, bubbly, girly giggle. A sound I hadn’t heard in a long time and certainly not one I’d ever heard from Skye. “Probably not,” she snorted as she tried to mop up her mess with the stack of napkins.
Shoving the bowl in the fridge, I dropped my keys and wallet on the counter before grabbing the roll of paper towels and heading around to clean up the mess.
While I tided up, Skye refilled her glass. She wasn’t drinking for fun, she was drinking to forget, and I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to know what demons she was trying to escape from. God knows I had enough of my own at the moment; could I carry the load for her as well? When she lifted the glass to her lips and tossed the shot back, wincing as she swallowed before reaching for a slice of lime and sucking on it, I knew I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t stand by and let her self-destruct. She didn’t deserve that. Skye was a good girl. She was honest, hardworking, and had a heart of gold. She’d just been dealt a shitty hand and was struggling to find her feet again. Something I understood all too well.
“Want one?” she asked, lifting the bottle.
I had two choices. I could tell her she’d had enough and try and get her sobered up and into bed, or I could sit down, grab a glass, and take one for the team.
“Why not?” I said picking up the trash and heading into the kitchen to toss it away and grab myself a glass.
A couple shots later and Skye had me in stitches. I’d swapped to water, figuring one of us needed to be able to walk while she kept throwing them back like a woman on a mission.
“Did Cass ever tell you about San Francisco?”
“No? Should she have?”
“Oh my God! It was so fucking funny. When we eventually got there, after flight delays because of weather, we made it to the hotel hungry and tired. We checked in as quick as we could, then went looking for something for dinner. We walked down the street and found the most amazing Italian restaurant. It was corny and over the top and I loved it. As we walked through the door, the entire staff were serenading a young girl celebrating her birthday.”
“Sounds like an amazing place,” I commented as Skye poured herself another shot before licking the back of her hand and sprinkling salt.
“So amazing. We ordered way too much food and drank wine. We were laughing and smiling and just getting swept up in everything happening around us. Beside us, there was a table, filled with guys who’d obviously had a few drinks and were getting loud. They had a debate going whether it was actually Cassidy sitting there or just someone who looked like her. It wasn’t uncommon, so we had a laugh, ignored them and ordered the best tiramisu I’d ever tasted. When one of them finally grew his balls to come over and asked, we stopped.”
“Do I want to hear this?”
“You’ll love this,” Skye assured me, throwing back her shot.
Her eyes were bloodshot and I wanted to take the bottle away from her. I needed to take the bottle away, but I couldn’t do it. Maybe I was a pussy, maybe I didn’t have the balls to do what had to be done. Skye would have one hell of a hangover tomorrow, but for right now, she was safe and probably for the first time in a long time, letting herself just breathe. If that’s what she needed, then I’d be right here beside her, ready to help her pick up the pieces.
“He came over thinking he was hot stuff and completely ignored me. It was like I wasn’t even there. Like I didn’t even exist. He invited her back to his hotel room…”
I saw fucking red. Firstly, the guy was a douche. Who walked up to a woman and invited them back to a hotel? And secondly, she was engaged. To me. Asshole.
“Calm down there, Hayden. No need to go all Hulk smash on me. You and I both know Cass could hold her own and that night wasn’t any different. Without batting an eyelid, she put her hands under the table, pulled off her engagement ring, then there, in front of everyone, she reached for my hand, asked me to marry her and slid the ring on my finger.”
“What the…”
I knew Cass had a sense of humor but never in a million years would I have guessed that.
“The guy practically tripped over himself trying to scramble back to his table while Cass just returned to her dessert.”
“Then what happened?”
“Nothing. We paid the bill, left the restaurant and grabbed a cab back to the hotel.”
The next few hours passed in a blur. The more Skye drank, the more stories she told me about what life was really like on the road. Apparently it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, but they always seemed to have fun and get themselves in a little bit of trouble now and again.
It was late, or early depending on how you wanted to look at it I guess, but I was ready to call it a night. And Skye, well let’s just say the happy, laughing Skye left about an hour ago and was slowly breaking down into an overly emotional version. Drunk and happy I could handle, tears, not so much.
